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Internet Really Did Kill The Radio Star

The advent of the internet has been one of the biggest gifts but subsequently a curse at the same time. The internet has given people the ability to voice their opinions, music, and skills to the world. But, the problem of the internet is that it has given people the ability to voice their opinions, music, and skills to the world.

Music has become one the biggest things effected by the rise if the internet. If it was not for the internet I would have never been exposed to artists such as Little Brother, Eric Roberson, Conya Doss, The Foreign Exchange, Vandalyzm, Carmen Rodgers, W. Ellington Felton, and many other artists(see The Underrated R&B Artist Series and then the Underrated Hip Hop Series). However you have literally everyone and their mama thinking they are the next musical star. How many emails do you get about a new slamming mixtape entitled “Bitches and Bottles” that has come out from a rapper named Sir Hoodalot?

For all those who bought CDs and tapes at some point in their life remember how every Tuesday was like a new package of crack being delivered on the block. You would be itching to get out of school or wake up in the morning to get to the record store because it was record release day. I remember picking up a Source Magazine or Rap Pages and scouring it to find when my favorite artist’s albums were dropping. It could be Christmas every other Tuesday if things lined up correctly. My, oh my have those days been long and gone.

For every great technological advance we have in this world there is a possibility that this technology will also do something to dilute society. We saw the internet come into the world and give everyone the world access to production of their own movies, music, and voice but with these voices can make it more difficult for those quality voices to shine through. The internet has made things more scattered and harder to find great music only IF we allow it too.

For all my 80s babies and 80’s enthusiasts you may remember the song “Video killed the Radio Star” by the British group The Buggles. If you haven’t heard the song basically they are commenting that the emphasis on music videos was killing the music. It’s a very addictive and simple 80’s song but it does have some truth in it for the time period. The same can now be said for the internet’s influence on music. The internet came along and between bootlegging and the indoctrination of the marketing tool of the “mixtape” things were bound to drastically change. As the sales of albums decreased we saw artists and record labels concentrating on singles and ringtone sells instead of production of a quality album. This is all why we can say in some ways Internet killed the radio star but, on the other hand do we use the internet to find the great music out there as well.

The internet has also provided the opportunity for many artists who may have gotten blocked from the traditional record industry or financially raped to have an avenue to display their art. We can complain about how the internet has messed up music but I look at the as a blessing as well. We can either choose to listen to all the BS we are spoon fed or make it a point to be responsible for the music we find and listen to.

Black Sheep said “The Choice is Yours” and it really is. And just listening to whatever comes on the radio or the stuff in the club is not a food options. Never let anyone else make your choices for you especially when you have a multitude of avenues of choice. Quit complaining about how music sucks. Good music is like being around progressive and upwardly moving folks…Its all about whom you are surrounding yourself and music is no different.

One response to “Internet Really Did Kill The Radio Star”

While the internet has helped pave a way for many hip hop artists, the problem is that the internet helped make the “rapping crowd’ more apparent. There are absolutely too many “wannabe rappers. Seriously.